A 21-year-old man is behind bars after police say he threatened a mass shooting targeting children.
Terek Wesley Fleming of Midvale was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail, Wednesday. He faces charges of making terroristic threats and threats of violence.
Police were alerted to the messages Fleming allegedly sent, by a woman who lives in Sanpete County.
“The threats involved killing particular individuals as well as shooting up a children’s hospital,” said Sgt. Melody Gray of the Unified Police Department. “We are never going to take them idly.”
Investigators say Fleming did not specifically name a hospital, but because he lives in Salt Lake County, Primary Children’s Hospital was placed on lockdown for 13 hours overnight and Shriner’s Hospital was on heightened security. Sanpete Valley Hospital was also placed on lockdown.
“You’re taking three separate hospitals that had some harsh implications,” Gray said.
Several agencies across the state took precautions, including University of Utah Police.
“We took it very seriously,” said University of Utah Police Lt. Jason Hinojosa.
Officers set up extra patrols outside Primary Children’s Hospital in case the threats became something more.
“It seems that the active shooter is becoming too common. Just out of an abundance of caution and just in case if anything did happen to materialize, we wanted to have officers in place,” Hinojosa said.
Police say in the current climate, no threat can be overlooked.
“When you are talking about killing children and going to a specific place to kill children, that is going to be taken seriously,” Gray said.
The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office is screening the case and more charges could be added.
